Lamb of God's 'Sacrament' In Billboard's Top 10

According to Hits Daily Double, LAMB OF GOD's "Sacrament" (Epic) is poised to sell between 75,000 and 80,000 copies in the United States during its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart. The final first-week sales figures will be announced on Wednesday, August 30.

"Sacrament", entered the Australian chart at position No. 25 (right behind PARIS HILTON).

"Sacrament", the second Epic Records studio release from LAMB OF GOD, was issued individually and as a CD and DVD deluxe edition, which includes over 90 minutes of special behind-the-scenes footage of the making of "Sacrament". This special deluxe edition of "Sacrament" chronicles the making of the album from the early stages of writing and rehearsing to the actual studio recording. Filmed during the spring of 2006, the footage captures the intensely personal aspects of the album making process as well as taking a sneak peek inside the band's private lives. The DVD contains interviews from each band member as well as director's cut versions of two videos from the upcoming release, including the first single, "Redneck".

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This Week In Metal - August 24th, 2006

A third week, and to my surprise Slayer isn't number 1. Strapping Young Lad keeps the #1 spot for the second straight week. Meanwhile Slayer is at their heels and I would bet good money they takeover the top spot next week. Hatebreed's new album Supremecy could be the only thing that comes inbetween all of that but I highly doubt it. All That Remains holds strong as one of 4 bands that have stayed in the top 10 since TWIM was brought back. The second biggest highlight of the chart is the fact that All Shall Perish has broken thru and taken a spot inside the top 10. I've been a fan of these boys for a while and its amazing to see their name share spots with the likes of Shadows Fall and Unearth. And now for the chart courtesy of CMJ :

And now for the tunes, with a drastic change in this weeks chart. Unearth jumps from seven to first, while Slayer's Cult drops from first to tenth. Only six songs stayed on the chart, while we had four really strong debuts from great bands. Hatebreed, Mastodon and the new ATR single. Not to mention the ever-growing popularity of Human Abstract debuts. The singles chart is always shaky as the seeming flavor of the week is always ahead here, and now for the music, courtesy of MusicMatch:

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Gigantour 2006 Schedule Gets Tweaked

With the start of the second annual Gigantour looming on the horizon, organizers have tinkered with the schedule a bit, to include adding several new stops to the run.

Originally due to launch Sept. 7 in San Diego, the outing will now get underway Sept. 6 in Boise, ID, and won't hit San Diego until Sept. 9; the move knocks off the schedule a previously announced Sept. 9 show in San Luis Obispo, CA. Meanwhile, new stops have been added in Oklahoma City, OK; Boston; and Atlantic City, NJ.

The main-stage roster for the majority of the tour features headliners Megadeth, as well as Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, and The Smashup. The Phoenix, Oklahoma City and Boston stops, however, won't include Into Eternity, Sanctity and The Smashup, and those three bands, as well as Overkill, won't be on board for the tour's Las Vegas engagement, which is now confirmed to take place at the House of Blues.

Tickets for most shows are on sale now, while those for stops in Chicago and Atlantic City will hit the box office Saturday (8/26). Details are shown in the itinerary below.

Gigantour is the brainchild of Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, who last year mounted an inaugural run that also included Dream Theater, Fear Factory, Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore. That trek is documented on the forthcoming "Gigantour 2005," a live set that comprises a two-disc audio version that hits stores tomorrow (8/22), and a two-DVD video version that surfaces Sept. 5.

Earlier this year, Megadeth signed a new record deal with Roadrunner Records.

"It is exciting to be some place you are respected, understood and appreciated," Mustaine said a statement. "The truth is there's a lot of people I've known there over the years. I'm stoked we're all coming back together again to work on this project."

Roadrunner plans to release "United Abominations," Megadeth's follow-up to 2004's "The System Has Failed," later this year, according to the label.

Here are the latest Gigantour 2006 tour dates: More...

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AOL Music Streaming Walls of Jericho's Latest

In addition to the previously announced full CD stream of Lamb of God's "Sacrament," AOL Music is also streaming Walls Of Jericho's "With The Devils Amongst Us All."

• Lamb of God, Sacrament


• Walls Of Jericho, With The Devils Amongst Us All

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Hear The New Lamb Of God Album In Its Entirety

Lamb Of God's entire new album "Sacrament" is now available online in streaming audio here. The album itself will arrive in stores tomorrow, Tuesday August 22nd through Epic.

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Lamb of God To Take Over Liquid Metal

According to a posting on LAMB OF GOD's official web site, the band's drummer, Chris Adler, will begin hosting his own show on the XM Radio's "Liquid Metal" channel in the coming months. More information will be made available soon.

To celebrate the release of LAMB OF GOD's new album, "Sacrament", the band will be taking over XM Radio — hosting, live on air, all day long on the day before the release (August 21) spinning their choice of records, playing all 11 tracks off "Sacrament" and taking calls from 1 until 7:00 p.m.
* 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. with Willie Adler (guitar) and Chris Adler (drums) on Liquid Metal.

* 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. with Mark Morton (guitar) and John Campbell (bass) on Liquid Metal.

* 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. with Chris Adler (drums) and Randy Blythe (vocals) on the Squizz show.

* 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. with Randy Blythe (vocals) on Liquid Metal.

As previously reported, two complete tracks from LAMB OF GOD's upcoming "Sacrament" album — "Redneck" and "Walk with Me in Hell" — are available for streaming at LambOfGod.tv.

"Sacrament", the second Epic Records studio release from LAMB OF GOD, will be issued individually and as a CD and DVD deluxe edition, which will include over 90 minutes of special behind-the-scenes footage of the making of "Sacrament".

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Lamb of God Schedule AOL Listening Party Next Week

AOL Music will be streaming LAMB OF GOD's highly anticipated new album, "Sacrament", beginning on Monday, August 21 at 3:00 a.m. EST and ending on Sunday, August 27 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

As previously reported, two complete tracks from "Sacrament" — "Redneck" and "Walk with Me in Hell" — are available for streaming at LambOfGod.tv.

"Sacrament", the second Epic Records studio release from LAMB OF GOD, will be issued individually and as a CD and DVD deluxe edition, which will include over 90 minutes of special behind-the-scenes footage of the making of "Sacrament". More...

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Blotted Science Replace Drummer Yet Again

BLOTTED SCIENCE, the instrumental extreme metal project led by guitarist Ron Jarzombek (WATCHTOWER, SPASTIC INK) and bassist Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE), has parted ways with drummer Derek Roddy (ex-HATE ETERNAL, NILE) who replaced original skinsman Chris Adler (LAMB OF GOD) only months ago. Taking Roddy's place is highly touted New Jersey native Charlie Zeleny of newly signed Black Market Activities/Metal Blade recordings artists BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS.

"Well, sometimes things don't quite work out they way you want them to and this is one of those instances," commented Ron Jarzombek on the split. "Derek Roddy gave us his notice a couple of weeks ago and won't be a part of BLOTTED SCIENCE after all. Everything is still cool between us. Basically, Derek did not have the necessary time to dedicate to the project — he's writing a book and has a clinic tour coming up — and, unfortunately, the physical distance between us proved to be a bigger than anticipated obstacle in the recording process. Anyway, the good news is that Charlie Zeleny from BEHOLD... THE ARCTOPUS has stepped in on the fly and he's already begun final tracking. Charlie is totally smokin' on this shit! The man is seriously skilled and besides doing lots of session work on the East Coast, Charlie is also working with Jordan Rudess from DREAM THEATER as a member of his online conservatory staff. You can get the full lowdown on Dr. Z on his website www.CharlieZeleny.com . Barring any further delays we'll have all the drums recorded by October/November and finish the album before Christmas."

BLOTTED SCIENCE's debut CD, "The Machinations of Dementia", is tentatively scheduled for an early 2007 release through a yet-to-be determined label. Among the 16 songs set for inclusion are 'Narcolepsy', 'Bleeding In The Brain', 'R.E.M.', 'Synaptic Plasticity', 'Laser Lobotomy', 'The Insomniac', 'EEG Tracings', 'Oscillation Cycles', and 'Brain Fingerprinting'.

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This Week In Metal - August 17th, 2006

A new top album ? Its true, this week Strapping Young Lad takes over the top spot from Shadows Fall. Both of these bands are very deserving, but we crown our second #1 in as many weeks. Last weeks top 7 managed to stay on the chart, but jump around a little bit. While we have 3 brand new albums debuting this week, with one going as high as #6 in Voivod's Katorz. This is quite possibly the best album these guys have released and they are finally getting the notority they deserve. Not far behind them in the new releases is Unearths' III: The Eyes Of Fire, which is amazing considering it hasnt been released in alot of areas yet but the pre-orders are astounding. I see a #1 in the future for these guys, but who can knock off the consistancy SYL is showing. All That Remains also leapfrogged The Shads into the #2 slot and the big jumper was Between The Buried And Me gaining three slots, which is hard to do considering the company they are in. Meanwhile, Cellador dropped from 8th to 11th. Acacia Strain from 9th to 14th and BYD to 12th. New albums already making a storm up the charts are Slayers "Christ Illusion" with pre-ordering alone landing it inside the top 20. Hatebreed's Supremecy is also showing strong and will reach the top 10 next week. Also in responding to the comments I am considering making this, and the singles list a top 15. If you think its a good idea please respond so, or if thats too much tell me to keep it at 10. \m/.

Now for the singles, with a very familiar band to anyone who visits this site, taking over as #1. Lamb of God also stays strong moving up 1 to #2. Shadows Fall and Stone Sour round out the top 4 with a big jumper for the week Celtic Frost's Ground moving up to number 5. Threat Signal holds strong and then we get to three really strong debuts by 3 really strong bands. SYL's new ozzfest anthem boasts the #9 spot as a highlight of the new songs. Roudning out the top 10 is BLS with Concrete Jungle.

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Heavy Metal Gets Socially Conscious

"Heavy Metal Gets Socially Conscious" is an AP article that's been making its rounds through the papers around the country. It's good for heavy metal to get some exposure like this, much less in a positive light for a change. Here are some excerpts:

"Heavy metal singer Chris Barnes didn't know what people would think of "Amerika the Brutal," an anti-war song he wrote after his cousin deployed to Iraq in 2003."

"He heard a number of complaints, but also received supportive e-mails from American troops in the war zone."

"It kind of sent a shiver up my spine because those are the guys I didn't want to offend by sounding anti-war," said Barnes, vocalist for the death metal band Six Feet Under."

"Other metal bands are finding similar inspiration."

"Lamb of God's albums criticize American foreign policy. Cattle Decapitation are ardent vegetarians who use explicit album covers and songs like "Veal and the Cult of Torture" to condemn the meat industry. Serj Tankian of System of a Down is co-founder of a nonprofit organization that works on social issues."

Read the full article at WashingtonPost.com.

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Lamb of God Schedule CD-Signing Sessions

LAMB OF GOD has lined up the following CD-signing sessions:

Tuesday, August 22 at noon:

Looney Tunes
31 Brookvale Ave
West Babylon, NY 11704
www.looneytunescds.com

Tuesday, August 22 at 7:00 p.m.:

Vintage Vinyl
51 Lafayette Rd.
Fords, NJ 08863
www.vvinyl.com

Friday, August 25 at 7:00 p.m.:

Plan 9 Music
3012 W Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
www.plan9music.com More...

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This Week In Metal - August 10th, 2006

Welcome to the return of This Week In Metal, a column I used to do before I was forced to take a hiatus from metalunderground.com. In this weekly column, we will update the top 10 selling albums in the metal industry (courtesy of CMJ) and the top 10 radio singles (pulled from Music Match). They use a number of sources for the list, including all satellite radio. While you may find a few bands that are too soft for the list, I assure you there will be more then enough surprises. Feel free to comment on the list and who you think is over/under-rated, what bands you expected to see and which ones you didn't. Again this column will run weekly, so be sure to check for it every Thursday in the columns area of MetalUnderground.com.

Now for the music, we will start each week with the albums. It's a good mix of what bands are bursting the underground, and some bands that have been killing for quite a while now.

Now for the tunes. These singles are a real who's who amongst metal right now. I find the list to be powerful and only really have one flaw. Keep in mind some songs have been out longer then others and have picked up a good fanbase on the radio, other songs have just come out and are sure to see their time at the top.

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Lamb of God Announce Extended Tour Plans

Lamb Of God have announced that following their run on this years "Gigantour", the band will head overseas for three months and follow it up with an early 2007 North American headlining tour. More on that and the bands latest happenings, including the idea behind their recently-released video for their track "Redneck", can be found at www.lambofgod.tv. The group will release their new album "Sacrament" through Epic on August 22nd.

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LoG Crash Kid's Birthday Bash For 'Redneck' Video

MTV caught up with Lamb of God to talk about their latest video for "Redneck" off their upcoming album "Sacrament." In the video, Lamb of God crashes a kid's birthday party.

"There are only so many videos you can make with you standing around a warehouse looking tough," guitarist Mark Morton explained. "We've done a couple of those, and we've done some live videos, too. But for this one, we wanted to do something different, so we just did a take on the old, classic '80s videos that were kind of spoof-ish. It has a little bit of a Twisted Sister vibe to it."

The video for the first single from Lamb of God's forthcoming LP Sacrament was directed by Bill Fishman (Eagles of Death Metal, the Ramones). It begins inside a picture-perfect suburban living room, where a father is playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on his acoustic guitar for his young daughter's birthday. The child's mother flips through the phone book, looking for a band to perform during the girl's birthday party. She finds an ad for Lamb of God, and calls to book them.

The band rolls up in their tour bus, which is packed with scantily clad strippers, and disrupts all the balloon-animal and piñata merriment. By the end of the video, Lamb of God are laying an offensive, hard-as-nails set on the partygoers, sending all of the frightened tots running with hands cupped over their ears.

The reception to the video, Morton said, has been positive — the reaction from the fans has been overwhelming. He hopes the same will be true for Sacrament, which hits stores August 22. The guitarist added that, when it comes to album sales, it's really out of his band's hands — so he's not about to lose any sleep over it.

"It's not really our job to sell records — that's the label's job," he said. In 2004, the band's major-label debut, Ashes of the Wake, opened at #27 with more than 35,000 sales; the LP has gone on to sell 256,000 copies. "Internally, all five of us, we rally around the fact that this record is exactly what we wanted it to be, and we feel like it's tougher and tougher to get better in this band. Each time we make a record and we feel we've improved it's a big success for the five of us. From there, how many units it sells, what the fan response is — those are all secondary elements. Do I expect it to be a top 10 record? I don't know. If it is, that would be great. I won't lie and say it wouldn't be exciting to have a commercially successful metal record. But at the same time, that's never part of the agenda."

Read the full article at MTV.com.

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Mustaine On Gigantour 2

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message on the "Forums" section of the Gigantour web site:

"Welcome to Gigantour 2006! I doubt I will get to meet many of you, but just know that I look forward to those of you that I do meet.

"I am very proud of the bands that I have chosen this year. And although some of us are similar, most of us aren't. One thing is that the guitarists are what makes me the proudest!

"To stand among the next generation of lead guitar heroes is thrilling, and while some may doubt the validity of what I am going to say, I look forward to seeing if I can learn anything from these excellent musicians. Old dogs can learn new tricks.

"I also want to keep an eye on all of the vocalists, especially the dude from THE SMASHUP, he has to sing in at least four or five different charachters when he sings — hella kewl!!! Knowing me, it's prolly all of the band taking turns and I'm just completely fooled.

"So, that's it for now. Come back soon, come back often, come out and see us on Gigantour 2006 North America, unless you are in Australia, then stay there and we'll come to you for Gigantour 2006 Australia, fondly called G.2006.OZ.

"Thank you for being part of my dream, part of this tour, part of our scene, and I will be watching you!"

The second edition of MEGADETH's Gigantour festival trek, which bowed last summer, will begin on September 7 in San Diego, California and feature LAMB OF GOD, OPETH, ARCH ENEMY, OVERKILL, THE SMASHUP, INTO ETERNITY and SANCTITY in addition to the headliner.

MEGADETH will release a new studio album, called "United Abominations", on October 31 via Roadrunner Records.

A CD of the first Gigantour will be out on August 22, while a DVD arrives on September 5.

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Lamb Of God's "Walk With Me In Hell" Online

You can hear another new LAMB OF GOD song entitled "Walk With Me In Hell" from their upcoming album "Sacrament" here (you'll have to scroll around the upper right hand corner to activate it).

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Details On New Lamb of God Album, "Sacrament"

"Sacrament", the second Epic Records studio release from LAMB OF GOD, will be issued on August 22 individually and as a CD and DVD deluxe edition, which will include over 90 minutes of special behind-the-scenes footage of the making of "Sacrament".

This special deluxe edition of "Sacrament" chronicles the making of the album from the early stages of writing and rehearsing to the actual studio recording. Filmed during the spring of 2006, the footage captures the intensely personal aspects of the album making process as well as taking a sneak peek inside the band's private lives. The DVD contains interviews from each band member as well as director's cut versions of two videos from the upcoming release, including the first single "Redneck".

Currently on the Unholy Alliance tour with SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD will hit the road again late summer in support of "Sacrament". More details will be announced soon.

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KSE, Lamb of God and Unearth To Tour Austrailia

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, LAMB OF GOD and UNEARTH are joining forces for an Australian tour in October. The dates are as follows:

Oct. 17 - Arena - Brisbane, AUS (licensed all ages)
Oct. 18 - Big Top Luna Park - Sydney, AUS (licensed all ages)
Oct. 19 - Palace - Melbourne, AUS (18+)
Oct. 20 - Capitol - Perth, AUS (18+)*
Oct. 21 - Capitol - Perth, AUS (Under 18s 4-7pm)*

* KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and UNEARTH only

Tickets go on sale August 10.

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Headline News

Gigantour 2006 Lineup and Dates Revealed

The fast and furious traveling festival that was hailed last year by Revolver magazine as "the mother of all shred fests" will kick off its second year in early September.

Look for the tour--the brainchild of MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine --to launch in the Northeast and to work its way through 25 major markets before wrapping in mid-October, with Xbox's "Gears of War" sponsoring the trek. MEGADETH will return as the festival headliner on a bill that includes fellow heavy-hitters Lamb of God, plus OPETH, ARCH ENEMY, OVERKILL, INTO ETERNITY, SANCTITY, and THE SMASHUP all confirmed for these mostly outdoor shows. Other second stage artists will be announced soon.

Mustaine personally hand-picks all the Gigantour bands, with a sharp eye on true musicianship. He says Gigantour is a great place for like-minded music fans to see a full day of music on two stages without breaking the bank, and he's glad the tour is back in '06. " This is the concert that I, as a heavy metal music fan, would want to see," says Mustaine. "It is going to be something to look forward to each year, to see what kind of tremendous talent we can assemble, for Gigantour festivals in the years to come."

LAMB OF GOD's Mark Morton says, "MEGADETH is one of the main reasons I started playing metal guitar in the first place. To finally tour with them is really exciting and it's a great way to start off our world tour supporting Sacrament. We've been dying to get the new material up and running on the live stage. We've worked so hard on the new record--it's really a great sense of accomplishment to see the new tunes come to life in a live setting. We're really looking forward to this one." The group's Chris Adler says, "Teaming up with Megadeth on GIGANTOUR is a metal dream come true. The lineup represents some of the most proficient metal bands and players from across the world and we are looking forward to joining forces and kicking ass. We're planning on a nice long set, introducing a lot of new and very heavy material from Sacrament as well as keeping the brutal live tracks from our previous albums. We can't wait to take the stage and destroy it."

Last year's inaugural GIGANTOUR was a six-week trek that was hailed by the Miami Herald for featuring "only bands whose musicianship matches their ability to melt faces with sheer volume and power." The Orange County Register agreed, saying, "...it does a heart good to see Mustaine able to buck the chameleon trend of rock and stay firm to his ideals, keeping the music the priority and not the image."

As for joining forces with GIGANTOUR, Craig Davison, Director of Global Games Marketing for Xbox, says, "We're totally jazzed about the partnership between Gigantour 2006 and our forthcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster, Gears of War ! Partnering a music extravaganza like GIGANTOUR with the launch of a mega-hit game like Gears of War captures the excitement around two awesome happenings for fans of music and video games!" Gears of War is a blockbuster video game exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system that blends tactical action with survival horror. Gears of War thrusts gamers into a harrowing story of humankind's epic battle for survival and is available this holiday.

In other GIGANTOUR news, Image Entertainment will release two-DVD and two-CD sets of GIGANTOUR 2005, which included Megadeth, Dream Theatre, Fear Factory, Anthrax, Nevermore, Life of Agony, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic and Bobaflex. The CD is out August 22, with the DVD hitting stores September 5--just in time for this year's tour.

Stay tuned for more details, or check out www.GIGANTOUR.com , www.megadeth.com , www.myspace.com/gigantour2006 , and www.myspace.com/megadeth .

The current itinerary is below (note: exact line-up for shows subject to change). More...

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Check Out Samples Of Lamb of God's New Album

You can check out 30 second samples of all the songs from LAMB OF GOD's new album, Sacrament, here.

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